Iraqi workers win tactical victory

Submitted by Anon on 28 June, 2007 - 12:54

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions has claimed a tactical victory in the Basra oil pipeline workers’ dispute.

Union leader Hassan Jumaa announced on 11 June: “An enlarged meeting was held with... the minister... Most of the issues within the remit of the prime minister were dealt with....”

The workers originally struck on Monday 4th. The government sent troops to surround the workplace. Work resumed, but the government agreed to negotiate. The government had ordered the arrest of leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions for “sabotaging the Iraqi economy”, but in fact they were not arrested.

Earlier strike calls in May, on broader demands, including consultation with the union on Iraq’s proposed new oil law, had been postponed after the union gained a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

In the June strike the union focused on two demands: that the general manager of the pipeline company resign; and that the company be financially and administratively independent from the Baghdad-based central ministry. Behind these demands lie grievances about non-payment of bonuses and allowances.

The IFOU’s strike attracted statements of support from the General Federation of Iraqi Workers and from the Iraqi Freedom Congress, which is closely associated with Iraq’s other main union federation, the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions.

All three federations have also signed a joint declaration against the privatisation of Iraqi’s oil resources. If they could agree on a common positive campaign around this issue, around jobs, wages, and provision for the unemployed, and against both the US/UK troops and the sectarian militias, then the unions could begin to rally millions.

At present, however, they are very much on the defensive. The GFIW has reported several strikes recently – by rail workers, postal workers, rubber workers, and Basra University staff – but mostly small ones.

There was a big workers’ demonstration in Basra on Wednesday 13 June by former workers at defunct Iraqi state-owned factories (petrochemicals, steel, etc.) who want the Iraqi government to revive these industries.

On the same day, however, the Golden Dome mosque in Samarra had its minarets blown up. It was a previous bombing of that mosque, in February 2006, which set civil war bubbling and boiling.

In a report made public the next day (14 June), the Pentagon admits that the current US military “surge”, which was supposed to curb the civil war and allow space for civil reconstruction, has not done that.

The US has dropped more bombs on Iraqi cities and towns. In the first four and a half months of 2007, US aircraft dropped 237 bombs and missiles, almost matching the 229 dropped in all of 2006, according to Air Force figures obtained by the Associated Press.

These bombings kill about 50 Iraqi civilians every month. But they do not stop the sectarian militias.

Suicide attacks more than doubled across Iraq, from 26 in January to 58 in April.

Statistics of violence fell somewhat in Baghdad and Anbar province. Even so, according to the Pentagon’s own report: “In Baghdad, a majority of residents report that militias act in the best interests of the Iraqi people”. According to the Washington Post, Baghdad morgue statistics show that killings there are now as frequent as ever.

The Pentagon admits that violence “has increased in most provinces, particularly in the outlying areas of Baghdad province and Diyala and Ninewa provinces”.

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